The Dexter government is set to give a university president the job of figuring out how to revive Nova Scotia’s rural economy.

Sources say Acadia University president Ray Ivany will be named shortly to head a task force on rural Nova Scotia.

The task force is expected to make its recommendations within 18 months, meaning any findings may not yield action before the next provincial election.

It’s unknown how many communities will be visited by members of the task force during the course of its work.

“The whole world is going urban and in Nova Scotia, the most urban area is Halifax and everything else is rural,” said Rankin MacSween, executive director of New Dawn Enterprises in Sydney.

“I don’t share the view that rural areas are dying. The question is how do we work as a province to strengthen every region and ensure rural areas are able to continue to thrive and enjoy a wonderful quality of life.”

MacSween said it would be important for the task force to speak with people from all walks of life.

“In every rural community, there are people who want to bring out the best in their community and know how to get the job done,” he said during a telephone interview Thursday.

“There are communities like Main-a-Dieu where the local regional development association is holding things together with Scotch Tape and coffee but they’re getting things done.

“The role of government is to get under communities like this and support them to become strong, vibrant communities and that’s what I would hope the task force would use as their mandate.”

As for the choice of Ivany, who hails from Sydney, MacSween figures Dexter couldn’t make a better choice to head the group.

“That was a wise selection,” he said. “You know, if you get the right people you’re 75 per cent of the way home.”

Ivany was a former president and CEO of Nova Scotia Community College and the former chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia and sits on the board of the Canadian Council on Learning.